In the early-modern age the region was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 it was southern part of the newly created Prussian province of East Prussia. The province was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union (and hence, today Russia) after the Second World War. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, nearly all indigenous German-speaking inhabitants were forcefully expelled by the new Soviet-appointed Polish Communist national government to what would become West and East Germany. Today, a small German-speaking minority is still present in the region.